Driving in the Boondocks

How is it, I can live in this little tiny town (tiny by my standards) and still get lost after almost 3 ½ years….but put me in San Francisco, blindfolded and I could get you across town the fastest possible way in high traffic.

It makes no sense.

Driving here makes no sense.

1st, there is the freeway (highway/interstate here) issue. I’m still not used to this. Here it is considered “Polite” to move your car from the right lane to the left lane so that the merging driver has a clear shot at this. OK…all well and good, until I go into auto-pilot mode. Then I turn into city driver extraordinaire!

Issue #1.

Dude, seriously, you’ve got to be kidding me…why should I move over so some slow ass country bumpkin doesn’t have to go past 40MPH while merging onto the interstate with a speed limit of 75MPH??? Makes no sense…get your speed up…or get off the road.

Issue #2.

People that actually stop on the “interstate merge” to get on to the “interstate”. I’m so not kidding you. People actually stop..STOP..and wait for all the cars to go by before creeping on the road. I’m not sure how many times I’ve almost hit someone at a dead stop, with me speeding up to get on the road…scared me silly….if you can’t drive…get off the road…

Issue #3.

We have a few left hand turn lights here in my fair city. Now, where I come from (that sounds like a song doesn’t it?) I’m digressing….Where I come from, when you hit a left light, you get your butt out in the intersection and wait for all the cars to go by and then, even if the light has turned “red” on you, you can still make your turn. This maneuver also allows at least 2 to 3 cars behind you the same privilege.

Here….in this land of “I don’t know how to drive”, people sit behind the crosswalk and wait until the next green arrow!!!!! What the heck???? WHYYYYY???????

Issue #4.

People…there are laws, even here about car seat usage. Now I’ll admit to being anal about this particular subject, but I pulled up to my kids’ day care today, and in pulled a truck behind me. The guy driving it had his 4 year old in the front seat of his pick up, with NO car-seat, NO booster, and NO seatbelt….Now I wonder…does this dude love his kid, or is he just a freaking idiot??? If I see the guy again tomorrow, I’m going to write down his license # and call the cops!

Issue #5.

Dog’s in trucks. Don’t…Just don’t. Today I was behind two different flatbed trucks, going upwards of 75MPH, with dogs lying on the back. One of the trucks had a huge St Bernard in the back, on the flatbed, and that dog was pacing and barking….I stayed way way back because I wasn’t ready to hit that dog horse with my kids in the car because it’s owner is a moron.

Issue #5 ½

Dogs left in cars….now I know this isn’t specific to here, but yesterday as I was going to PT at the hospital, there was a car parked right next to where I was, with a little black poodle in the back….I hate poodles..but not enough to bake poodle pie in my car. This poor little dog was panting and yipping, looking pathetic and hot, and I went in and told the hospital. When I came back out…this older woman in an appliquéd butterfly shirt was sitting in the car with the dog…but what is the point of bringing that little dog out in the heat of the day and then locking it inside of the car???

Enough Ranting from the Big Sky Country,

Over and Out,

Peace,

OC